Hey, Sexy Lady: Psy’s Gangnam Style Crowned Video of the Year in Canada

Carly Rae Jepsen is Canadian. Her viral hit “Call Me Maybe” has more than 361 million views on YouTube on the original music video alone (plus another trillion or so from parody hits).

Justin Bieber is Canadian. His first major hit, “Baby,” has more than 800 million YouTube views. It was the most-viewed video in the world for over a year on Google’s video streaming site.

But neither Carly’s summer sensation or any of Justin’s 2012 works managed to earn the title of “Video of the Year” in Canada. That went to Korea’s Psy, whose “Gangnam Style” infected our nation with horsey dances and lyrics no one understands.

 

 

“Gangnam Style” wins on sheer views: the video surpassed Justin Bieber’s record-holding music video in a remarkably short amount of time and is now just weeks from being the first video to crack the billion-view mark on YouTube. But Google says it’s more than views that earned Psy’s track the coveted crown. The company also factored in shares, searches, likes and responses.

But Bieber and Jepsen did get their moment in the spotlight: Justin and co. parodying “Call Me Maybe” ranked fourth in Canada and worldwide. Go figure.

Oh, and Ontario band Walk Off the Earth’s cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” ranked second. Five people play the song using one guitar. (Gotye’s own original version failed to make the Canadian list.)